Drugs

Senators Want Foreign Generic Drug Info

Senate Special Committee on Aging chairman Rick Scott (R-FL) and ranking member Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) have asked three group purchasing organizations (GPOs) for information on vulnerabilities in the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain involving generic drugs made overseas. In a statement (contains a link to the letter sent to the organizations), Scott and Gillibrand say the group purchasing organizations “play a pivotal role in leveraging size to bring down costs, allowing small providers to enjoy the same prices as larger health systems. GPOs also enable health systems to focus on delivering quality care as they can specialize in price negotiation and deal shopping. Given this essential responsibility, we write to request information and insight regarding existing supply chain vulnerabilities.”

The senators ask for this information:

whether the GPOs purchased any drugs that are exempt from an FDA import ban from the manufacturer;
the estimated number of days of drug inventory the U.S. would have for the top 50 small molecule generic drugs by volume if China were to stop exports of generic drugs, active pharmaceutical ingredients, and key startup materials;
whether the organizations provide quality information on generic drugs to their buyers;
whether they have long-term contracts with generic drug manufacturers, and whether there are barriers to using such contracts;
how the GPOs address disruptions in the supply chain for a single drug; and
whether their buyers would be willing to pay more per unit to ensure the stability of their generic drug supply.

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